Aussie Dollar Falls as Treasury Says RBA Can Cut Rates

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s dollar declined against
most of its major peers after the nation’s Treasury said the
central bank would be able to ease monetary policy if the
currency’s gains are hurting the economy.

The Aussie fell versus the U.S. dollar for the first time
in three days and declined for the first week since the five
days ended July 6. New Zealand’s currency fell against all its
major counterparts today, weakening against the greenback for
the first time in three days.

Australia’s dollar fell 0.9 percent to $1.0420 as of 5 p.m.
in New York, extending its weekly decline to 1.5 percent. It
dropped 0.6 percent to 82.90 yen.

New Zealand’s dollar, nicknamed the kiwi, weakened 0.4
percent to 80.76 U.S. cents, after rising 0.6 percent in the
past two days. For the week, it lost 0.7 percent. The kiwi
declined 0.1 percent to 64.25 yen.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will release minutes next
week of its Aug. 7 policy meeting, at which policy makers left
interest rates unchanged at 3.5 percent.

The euro may strengthen against the Australian dollar to
the highest level in more than a month if it breaks a key
resistance level, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., citing
technical indicators. The shared currency rose 0.7 percent today
to A$1.1836 to the Aussie.

The 17-nation currency has held the support level of
A$1.1538 in the near term, Niall O’Connor, a New York-based
technical analyst at JPMorgan, wrote today in a note to clients.
The euro has since appreciated and will test key hurdles at
A$1.1860 to A$1.1935, he said, and may rise to A$1.20 to A$1.21
if it breaks through this resistance. It last breached A$1.20 on
July 13. Support and resistance refer to areas on a chart where
orders may be clustered.